Greece offers incentives in bid to boost birthrate

Greece is urging its citizens to have more babies, in the hope that a growing population will get its economy moving again.

The Mediterranean nation of 10.5 million people has had economic woes since 2008, when the global economic crash hit it especially hard because of its high debt load.

Now, the government has unveiled a package of incentives — including vouchers, childcare support, and tax breaks — aimed at persuading people to procreate.

"It is a given that the demographic problem ... cannot simply be solved by benefits and cash incentives," Deputy Finance Minister Thanos Petralias said during a news conference last week, while also promising improvements to the country's education system and its healthcare provisions. In addition, Petralias said Greece will try to bolster people's incomes and help parents find a better work-life balance.

Greece has one of Europe's lowest fertility rates — with around 1.3 babies born for every woman — which is something experts attribute to the economic crisis and to the emigration of many young people to countries with stronger economies.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has described the falling birth rate as a "ticking time bomb" that could have a devastating impact on the country's pension system, as fewer workers, and especially a workforce hit by an exodus of high-earning skilled workers, falls short of being able to support the country's retired citizens.

The new batch of incentives aimed at boosting the birth rate came on top of the around 1 billion euros a year ($1.11 billion) the government is already spending on supporting families.

Despite all the efforts, in 2022 Greece recorded its smallest number of births since records began nearly a century ago.

The Reuters news agency said Greece, which is the European Union's second-poorest nation, is planning to unveil an additional set of measures later this year aimed at increasing its birthrate. They are expected to include additional affordable housing for young families, financial incentives for new parents, and ways to incorporate migrants into the country's workforce. There is also likely to be financial support for people needing in-vitro fertilization and egg donation services.

Although Greece's economy did finally grow a little last year, expanding by a welcome 2 percent, it is still much smaller than it was in 2007, prompting experts to ask whether the country can afford such incentives in the longer term.

While Greece has a particularly big problem, low birth rates have become an issue all over Europe, with France, Italy, Norway, and Spain all having recently unveiled incentives to try to reverse the trend. Among these, Hungary said recently it will offer loans of 30,000 euros to people thinking of starting or growing a family.